Greetings, luthiers. Just an amateur musician here, looking for information about elementary guitar technology.
Until recently I always thought X-bracing was for steel strings, and fan-bracing for nylon strings. But then I read that Martin's X-bracing was developed about 1850, and steel strings for guitars didn't come in till the early 20th century. So I assume that for 50 years or so Martin was building X-braced guitars with gut strings. I can't find much information about those guitars, except that they all appear to have had 12 frets to the body, and one comment that when steel strings were introduced Martin just had to make all the braces a little heavier but didn't have to change the basic design. Does anyone know more about that? And what did those X-braced gut-strung Martins sound like? Did they sound similar to Torres-style guitars? Or did they have a different type of sound, more like what a Martin-style steel-string guitar would sound like if you were to put nylon strings on it?
About a year ago I switched from playing steel strings to nylon strings, because I prefer the sound of classical guitars. But I can't get used to the wider neck that classical guitars have. I bought a classical guitar, and I also put nylon strings on my formerly steel-strung dreadnought. I like the feel of the nylon-strung dreadnought much better than the feel of the classical. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, I've had no problem of insufficient space between strings for the plucking hand. But the nylon-strung dreadnought doesn't have the vibrant sound of a classical, so I'm frustrated with both guitars.
I'm not very fussy about sound quality. Both my guitars are inexpensive mass-market models. The dreadnought is a Seagull, and the classical is an old Yamaha. When the Seagull had steel strings on it I thought it sounded as good as any steel-string guitar I'd ever heard. Even the Yamaha, with a laminate soundboard, sounds as good to me as any classical guitar. But I hear a big difference between classical and all other guitars, including the so-called "hybrid" nylon string guitars with narrow necks and 14 frets to the body. To me, those hybrids sound the same as my nylon-strung dreadnought, and not at all like a classical guitar.
I'm thinking about reaching inside the dreadnought and trimming down the braces, in the hope that lighter bracing might give it the sound of a classical. Has anyone ever done that? Or built a classical guitar with X-bracing? Do you think trimming the braces on my nylon-strung dreadnought is likely to make it sound like a classical?
About 30 years ago I built a steel-string guitar with an unconventional shape and construction (a travel guitar, small and light enough to carry on my bicycle, and with a detachable neck for air travel), and I had to make a wild guess about the bracing and the soundboard thickness. After trying out the finished product, I reached inside and trimmed down the braces, and also sanded down the top, till it had a lively sound. I still have the finger chisel that I made for that purpose, and the soundhole of my store-bought dreadnought looks large enough for me to reach inside. So I think I can do the trimming job, and the dreadnought isn't so expensive that ruining it for steel-string use would be a tragedy. But if this is a known dead-end I won't waste my time on it. Any insight you can provide will be much appreciated.
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just wondering if these are your initials . A christian name would be good. Welcome to the forum. 
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